Golden Strings
by Majestic Ribbons
Summary: A stubborn farmer, a suave thief, and the strings that tie them together. -City Girl renamed-
1. Phantom Skye

_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

**Chapter One - Phantom Skye**

__

Winter 29, 9:30 PM, Blue Bar

A rather pretty redhead blinked as she downed the last of her drink. "Hey, Muffy."

The blond barmaid handed the redhead another drink. "Yes, Nami?"

"Did you hear the latest gossip that Popuri's been spreading 'round?" Nami asked, referring to the pink-haired girl in Mineral Town.

Muffy nodded. "Yeah, heard someone's taking over Old Man Harvest's Farm."

"It's his kid." Nami snorted. "I hope it isn't going to be a guy."

"Now, why not?" Muffy asked. "We could certainly use some class around here. I heard the kid is from the city, and the kid would be our age, right?"

"Class?" Nami shook her head. "The city is also full of womanizers as it is of classy guys. We wouldn't want another Rock."

Rock was the innkeeper's son, with a reputation of trying to romance all the girls in Forget-Me-Not Valley and Mineral Town.

Muffy nodded. "We certainly don't."

****

---

__

Winter 30,10:30 PM, Harvest Farm

It was ten in the evening.

Takakura slowly sipped his coffee as he turned on his TV.

A rather loud knock on the door startled him, causing him to spill the cooled coffee on himself.

Sighing, Takakura reached for a washcloth. "I'll be there in a moment." He called as he began cleaning the stain on his white shirt.

The stain stubbornly refused to come off.

Finally giving up, Takakura threw the washcloth in the sink and answered the door.

A rather tall brunette with alluring purple eyes stood there, smiling. "Taka!"

Takakura smiled. "Jill! Last time I saw you, you were in diapers."

Jill Harvest laughed and hugged her father's best friend. "Mom died about a month ago."

Takakura's happy expression disappeared. "I'm so sorry."

Jill waved it off. "Mom's dying wish was that I restore the farm back to its former glory."

Takakura looked away. "She may have hidden it, but your mother truly cared for your father and his farm."

"Yeah." Jill whispered. Then, she brightened. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about, Taka?"

Takakura grew even more serious. "The Harvest Goddess, have you heard of her?"

"Yeah," Jill said. "Dad used to write about her in his letters."

"She's gone, Jill." Takakura said softly. "The Witch Princess made a mistake and transported her to another realm."

"What?" Jill yelped. "How can I help?"

"The Witch Princess also transported all one hundred and one of her sprite helpers too, Jill." Takakura said.

Jill nodded. "And..?"

"To rescue the Harvest Goddess, you must rescue sixty of her sprites." Takakura said. "And if you wish to marry, you must find sixty sprites."

Jill nodded. "I'll do it."

Takakura smiled. "Good luck, Jill."

The brunette turned to the door.

"Oh, and Jill?"

"Yeah?" She turned back to face him.

"Have fun with it." Takakura said, smiling. "Get a boyfriend or something."

Jill made a face. "Taka, you know I've sworn off men!"

Takakura sighed. "Jillian, what happened with that boy, whatever his name was, happened years ago. You have to forget about it and move on."

Jill's eyes grew cold and distant. "He left and didn't even have the decency to tell me he was going in the first place!"

"Jill-"

"I'm not getting a boyfriend, Taka." Jill said softly. "Not after him."

****

---

__

Spring 1, 6:00 AM, Harvest Farm

The next morning, a loud knock on the door woke Jill up from her slumber.

Yawning, Jill answered the door, still in her pajamas.

A man in red shook her hand. "Hello, Thomas here!"

Barely focusing on the conversation, Jill's mind registered that this 'Thomas' person was the mayor of Mineral Town and was handling her shipments.

"Did you get that, Jill?"

Yawning, Jill nodded. "Yeah, I got that."

****

---

__

Spring 1, 7:00 AM, Harvest Farm

Jill reached for a handkerchief in her pocket.

This was probably the fiftieth weed she pulled today.

"Need some help?" Someone asked from behind her.

Startled, Jill wiped around, her ponytails swinging.

It was a really pretty girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Jill blinked. "Pardon me, but who the heck are you?"

"I'm sorry for surprising you."The girl smiled. "I'm Celia. I work as Vesta and Marlin's assistant on the other farm."

Jill nodded. "Uh...I'm Jill."

"I know." Celia smiled. "Aren't you Old Man Harvest's child?"

"Uh, yeah." Jill nodded.

"Mr. Harvest was always really nice to me. He said I reminded him of his daughter." Celia said. "Oh, uh..do you need any help?"

Jill nodded. "Yeah, actually, I'm not very good at watering plants even though Takakura gave me some tips and a lot of strawberry seeds."

Celia rolled up her sleeves. "Then, let's get started!"

Jill nodded and headed towards the watering hole. Celia followed.

"You know, the water is really refreshing." Celia remarked.

"Yeah." Jill agreed as she dipped the watering can into the hole.

Suddenly, cerulean sparkles appeared over the watering hole.

Startled, Jill and Celia jumped back.

A tiny sprite appeared. "Jill, thank you so much for saving me!"

Then, he disappeared.

Staring at each other, Jill and Celia screamed in unison.

"WE SAW A SPRITE!"

****

---

__

Spring 1, 9:20 AM, Harvest Farm

"We're done." Celia announced happily as she watered the last of the seeds. "It was fun working with you Jill. See you around?"

She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Jill shouted.

"Eh?" Celia turned back.

"I need a tour guide Celia." Jill said, embarrassed. "I've never been here before and I don't know where everything is."

Celia smiled. "You're free the rest of the day, right?"

****

---

__

Spring 1, 9:22, Main Pathway

"Oh, this is the Main Pathway," Celia said. "Kate, Grant, Dr. Hardy, Chris,Wally, and Hugh live in those three houses."

Jill nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Ruby and Tim own the inn. Nami lives there with their son, Rock, and Kai in the summer. A lot of people from Mineral Town stay there too."

Celia grabbed Jill's hand and dragged her off towards Vesta's farm. "I'll ask Marlin to show you the Blue Bar when he goes to have his daily medicine drink thingy."

****

---

__

Spring 1, 9:27 AM, Vesta's Farm

Jill smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Vesta."

"You too, Jill!" Vesta smiled. "Now don't ask Celia to work on yer farm too much, 'cause she's working on mine too."

Jill laughed. "I won't."

Celia spotted a rather tall man with black curls. "Marlin, come meet Jill!"

Marlin jogged over to Celia. "Who's Jill?"

Celia gestured to Jill. "This is Jill. Can you take her to the Blue Bar to meet the others later?"

"Nice to meet you, Jill." Marlin said, shaking her hand.

"Yeah, you too." Jill said.

Marlin was a kind man. If not for his volumous locks of hair, Jill thought she could've actually liked him more than a friend. But she caught the wistful glances Celia sent towards him and she knew that she would never be able to love him.

****

---

__

Spring 1, 10:11 AM, Romana's Villa

Romana laughed, smiling at Jill. "Jill Harvest? Your grandfather was sweet on me."

Jill's eyes widened in shock. Romana wasn't exactly the picture of beauty, with her white locks of hair. But her eyes, her bright blue eyes, interested Jill. "Uh...I can see why."

Lumina curtsied. "Welcome to our villa, Jill."

Her straight brown hair barely reached up to her shoulders and she had an orange school uniform.

A small girl in a blue dress skipped over to Lumina. "Lumina, what should we eat today?" she asked, her brown pigtails swinging.

"This is Kate," Lumina explained. "She usually has dinner with us because her father comes home late at night and her mother left.."

Kate looked at Jill. "Are you Old Man Harvest's daughter?"

Jill nodded. "Yeah, I am."

"He kinda acted like a second mom to me." Kate said. "My mom was always demanding that I should be a lady, so I liked him more than I liked my own mom."

"That's kinda weird..." Jill murmured.

****

---

__

Spring 1, 8:30 PM, Blue Bar

Marlin scratched his head. "Erm, this is Muffy."

The petite blond smiled at Jill. "Hello there, I'm the barmaid."

"This is Nami." Marlin said, gesturing to the boyish-looking redhead.

"Er, hello." Jill said, attempting a smile.

"Hey." Apparently, Nami was a woman of few words.

"And this is Griffin." Marlin finished.

"Hi," Jill chirped. "I'm Jill Harvest."

"Hello." Griffin smiled, "Forget-Me-Not is a wonderful place. Kinda shabby compared to town though."

Jill shook her head. "It's very nice here."

Nami rolled her eyes. "You're the kind of person I hate most."

"What exactly does that mean?" Jill snapped.

"Perky and cheery." Nami scoffed. "It's sickening, seeing girls like you flirt with men. What's wrong with your type?"

"I'm not interested in guys. They're disgusting jerks. Uh, no offense, Marlin and Griffin." Jill said.

"None taken." Griffin said, as if farmers came in and discussed their hatred of men everyday.

"And it's not like I'm 'Little Miss Sunshine', No, I'll leave that honour to Miss Mary the Librarian, who expects everyone to drop what they're doing just 'cause she's writing a book." Jill ranted. "I mean, who cares?! So she's writing a book, oh joy!"

Nami grinned. "You're not bad, Harvest. Anyone that hates Mary almost as much as I do can't be that bad."

"What'd she do to you?" Jill asked.

"She flounced in every Monday when your brother would be having lunch with me." Nami narrowed her eyes. "We were best friends, me and Jack. Then, Little Miss Librarian came in and took him away from me."

"So that's why Jack and Kai left on a trip 'round the world." Jill mused. "My little brother did mention that he had a fight with someone and couldn't stay on the farm anymore."

Nami's eyes widened in shock. "He left...because of the things I said?"

"No, Mary." Jill explained. "He was talking to Kai, and she flounced in front of him and started stuttering as she asked him to watch the fireworks with her. Apparently, he already promised to watch them with you and Kai. Mary started crying, whining that no one cared for her enough to watch the fireworks with her."

"...Jack's your twin, right?" Nami asked, noting the resemblance between the two.

"Yeah, and anyways, he got all pissed." Jill continued. "He said that if she asked earlier, anyone could've watched with her. Kai and him started talking again, and ignoring Mary, who was sulking. I was there too, and I called Mary a...bitch, trying to entice my brother to lose everything for her. She started screaming that Jack was her perfect prince and no one was gonna take him away from her, especially not some badly dressed, scraggily haired brunette. And I started shouting that she's been reading too many books and it gave her an unrealistic idea of men. She insulted me again, and I'm all, 'Seriously, bitch. Why would I want to be Jack's girlfriend? That's just sick. I don't want to be my younger, TWIN brother's girlfriend.' "

Nami's grin spread wider. "You're okay, Harvest."

Jill grinned as well and placed some coins on the table. "What do you want, Nami? My treat."

Nami laughed lightly. "Two rounds of Summer Heat, Muff. One for me and my new best friend."

Muffy pouted. "Now everyone's got a best friend but me."

"Sorry, but I don't do make-up and stuff." Jill laughed. "You can be Celia's best friend."

****

---

__

Spring 1, 9:30 PM, Romana's Villa

Jill held up her hands in front of her. "Ah, I wouldn't want to trouble you Romana."

"Nonsense!" Romana said cheerfully. "Besides, Lumina is learning how to cook as well!"

"Okay then." Jill shrugged.

Romana smiled. "That'd be wonderful, Jill! Oh, and report here at six to begin Lumina and your culinary training with Sebastian."

Sebastian beamed. "Alright, then."

Lumina looked less than pleased. "Well, might as well get it over with."

----

__

Spring 1, 10:00 PM, Romana's Villa

As Jill opened the doors of the mansion, a rush of cold wind met her face.

Kate made a face. "C'mon Jill! It's late!"

The two headed down the stairs when Jill realized her rucksack had been left inside the mansion, Lumina's bedroom, to be exact.

"You go on, Kate." Jill said. "I have to get my rucksack."

Kate shrugged. "Whatever."

As Jill headed back to the mansion, she spied a rather handsome silver-haired man standing next to the fountain.

He clutched her rucksack in his hands.

"Hey," Jill cried indignantly. "Give me my rucksack!"

He gave a low chuckle. "I don't think so, beautiful. This rucksack has something I want."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Why, I'm a Prince of the Stars." He smiled dazzlingly at Jill. "But for such a beautiful maiden, you may call me Phantom Skye."

"You disgust me." Jill snapped.

Why did he seem so familiar to her?

He turned to face her, and Jill was struck with a feeling of longing. He looked exactly like him, but it wasn't possible. It simply wasn't possible.

Skye walked passed Jill quite happily.

"C-Cloud?" She stammered.

The Phantom Thief froze, and turned back to face the brunette. "What did you just call me?"

It wasn't an angry question, just surprise.

Jill didn't get to answer, as the front doors of the mansion opened with a rather loud sound.

Lumina stomped out. "Hey, you! You stole a very rare curry mix!"

She, of course, was referring to Phantom Skye.

He smiled his dazzling smile at Lumina. "Beauty ruins you, my dear."

Lumina blushed madly. "W-what?"

He turned to Jill. "Pardon me, but I must go. Until next time, fair maiden."

Skye headed down the stairs, leaving Lumina and Jill stunned.

Lumina stared at the spot where Skye had been for a few seconds until she snapped back into reality.

"H-hey! Come back you thief!"

Moments later, Lumina stumbled back up the stairs. "He was so fast."

Jill nodded, still confused at what just happened.

Lumina blushed. "He was awfully cute though." She headed back towards the mansion. "Good night, Jill."

Jill shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts of the thief and someone that had surfaced in her memory. She ran down the steps, passed Kat'es house, and into her own house that had once held her father and brother. Her back leaning against the front door, tears ran down the brunette's cheeks.

"Why Cloud?" She cried. "Why do you have to come back now?"

Finally grabbing hold of reality, Jill straightened and headed towards the bathroom. Moments later, she exited, clad in an oversized white t-shirt that doubled as a nightgown. Sliding under the covers, the farmer slept.

Her dreams were odd. Skye was in it, and so was Cloud. At first, it had been Cloud, smiling happily at her. Then, he turned into the Phantom Thief, who had the exact same smile.

Jill woke up, her heart beating quickly. Laughing it off, she turned on her side, determined to cast the dream aside.

"It was a dream." She assured herself. "Skye can't possibly be Cloud."

---

Next to the top of the very waterfall that flowed into the pond next to Flora and Carter's tent, a house stood. The inside was rather simple: a bed, kitchen, and bathroom. There were several bookselves,a kitchen table and a large wooden chest, but nothing else. A man sat on the floor next to the wooden chest, which was open. Surrounding the silver-haired man on the ground was an assortment of photos.

All of them involved the farmer.

In one, she was laughing with a smiling teenager with green eyes and light brown hair streaked with gold. In another, she was kissing the same teenager on the cheek as he presented her with a teddy bear. In several, her face was turned away from the camera, as if she did not wish to be recorded on film without her companion. In the last one, she was smiling happily, as if nothing could bring her down.

Phantom Skye looked out the window and sighed unhappily.

"I'm sorry, Jill."

****

.

...I rewrote it, sort of. I tried not to make Jill such a Mary-Sue, because that's how some fanfics portray her. I'm going to try and think of some flaws for her, besides not being able to cook anything other than curry. I do realize that I was not very happy with the way I rewrote it. Let me explain something very obvious.

Skye is Cloud.

Okay, they met when Skye used to live in the city, and Skye's hair is like that because it's a wig. He was dared, and Jill didn't recognize him without the wig. Jill hates guys after Skye moves into the country without telling her.


	2. Claire Arrives

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon._

**Chapter Two - Claire Arrives**

_Spring 13, 2:50 PM, Romana's Villa_

"Lumina, get some water, QUICK!" Jill screeched as she dumped the contents of her watering can on the frying pan.

Lumina hurried to the sink, a rather large bowl in her hands. She handed the bowl to Jill after a few second, and Jill tossed the water at the frying pan.

Smoke hovered above the frying pan for a few moments before Jill spoke.

"Sebastian, I think the risotto is done."

Rock, who had been in the parlor playing with Kate, hurried into the kitchen. "Whatsa matter?"

Jill sniggered and scooped up the charred remains of the risotto into a bowl. "Would you like some?"

Rock tilted his head. "I guess I can try it..."

Lumina covered her eyes, secretly delighted at Jill's joke.

Rock's face lit up. "Hey, this black stuff is really good!"

The blond playboy could not, for the life of him, figure out why Jill and Lumina collapsed into a heap of giggles as Sebastian chuckled.

**---**

_Spring 13, 3:50 PM, Karen's Supermarket_

Jill growled in silent anger as Karen handed her a new, bigger rucksack.

Nami placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder, and she seemed to calm down remotely.

"So," The blond tomboy commented. "What happened to your old rucksack?"

"Phantom Skye." Jill spat angrily.

"Ah.." Karen nodded. "He hit our place last week. Made off with a ton of curry ingredients."

"Tch." Jill rolled her eyes. "Concieted thief."

Nami suppressed a laugh. "If he's so unappealing, why are you in denial?"

"What?!" Jill screamed. "I-I'm not in denial!"

"Please." Nami made a face at her best friend. "He made off with your rucksack almost a month ago; You've been using mine. And yesterday, you actually started screaming, 'I'm not in love with that stupid jerk!' three times when walking to the bar."

"Details, details." The brunette dismissed her friend's accusation with a wave of her hand.

Karen chuckled to herself as the two bickered, and made a mental note to share this with Elli, Popuri, Ann, and Claire.

---

_Spring 14_

Jill walked placidly to the Blue Bar as she held her umbrella over her head, thinking of going to Vesta's farm later.

As Jill opened the door to the bar, she was greeted with an odd sight.

Muffy was sobbing into Griffin's shoulder, her pale hands clutching a note.

"Oh, Griffin." She sobbed. "Why us? You don't deserve to be stolen from."

Griffin made a feeble attempt at humor. "Gee, thanks Muffy. Nice to know I'm not worth stealing from."

Muffy lifted her head, turning pink. "I-I didn't mean it like that,Griffin."

"What's wrong?" Jill asked curiously.

"JILL!" Muffy cried, her sobs of sadness returning. "Oh, Jill. It's horrible! P-Phantom S-Skye--"

"He's coming here tonight." Griffin finished, not looking worried. "There's nothing good to steal, anyways."

"Please come help us, Jill." Muffy begged, her green eyes tearful. "Griffin's my friend, and I won't let him get stolen from."

"Of course I'll help!" Jill said, "If I don't, Griffin might put something horrible in my drink next time I come here."

Muffy smiled half-heartedly. "Thanks Jill."

Griffin winked at the farmer, who grinned in return.

"Thanks." He whispered softly. "Muffy can be dramatic at times."

"You're welcome." Jill smiled. "I know that Muffy can be like that, and I wasn't kidding when I said that you might put something horrible in my drink."

Griffin smiled as the farmer grinned.

---

Evening came, and Jill took a deep breath before entering the drinking establishment.

"Hello?" She called out.

Muffy and Griffin exited the backroom, and smiled when they spotted Jill.

"Jill, you're here!" Muffy squealed.

"Yeah, yeah." Jill smiled. "So, when's the idiot thief coming?"

"Don't know." Griffin sighed. "You know, we really should've thought this through more."

"Oh, I don't know." Muffy cheerfully chirped. "I mean, Phantom Skye probably makes this up as he goes along, and he's a really prosperous thief."

"...Are you suggesting we should become thieves...?" Jill grinned.

"Great idea," Griffin smiled, playing along. "I'll get some masks and we can ransack the inn."

"What?" Muffy cried. "T-that's not what I meant!"

The two laughed as Muffy protested that she had not meant for her words to be a joke.

A few minutes passed and Jill huffed. "I'm bored."

"Does anyone else smell curry?" Muffy asked.

Griffin sniffed the air. "Yeah, now that you mention it..."

Jill cheered silently. "I'll go look for it!"

"No, Jill." Muffy said firmly. "Me and Griffin will look for it. It might be dangerous."

"Muuuuuuffffy!" Jill whined. "I'm not a baby!"

"Stop whining, Jill." Muffy scolded. "It's for your own safety."

"Fine." Jill huffed as the other two exited the bar.

No sooner than they had left, silver sparkles glittered in the doorway.

"What the--"

Phantom Skye stood where the glittering sparks of light had hovered over moments before. He seeemed startled at Jill's presence. "Hello, angel."

"My name's Jill." Said farmer snapped. "Get it right."

"I didn't expect you to be here." A brief smile flickered over the thief's face.

"Well I'm here." Jill muttered stubbornly. "So too bad."

"Either way, I can't have you ruining my carefully planned heist." Skye pulled one of his necklaces from under his leopard-print shirt, a small emerald on a thin silver chain, and aimed the stone at Jill. "Maiden Chick Beam!"

Jill was frozen where she sat on the bar stool. "Damnit thief, what did you do to me?"

"I'm sorry, Jill." Skye shrugged as he walked past her to the bar's wine cabinet. "But you'll be able to move soon."

"When?" she asked angrily.

Skye turned back and smiled seductively at her. "When I feel like it."

Jill could feel her face warm up, and she couldn't help but think of his green eyes.

And Cloud's green eyes too.

"I'm just kidding." Skye laughed. "In a few minutes, maybe more."

"Why are you a thief?" Jill asked suddenly.

Skye paused. "Huh, I don't really know."

"Are you happy with this life?" Jill asked, as Skye turned back to her.

"No, before and after I met you." Skye chuckled. "If you catch me, you can ask as many questions as you want."

And he disappeared.

But before he did, Jill could see him reaching for his other necklace, a small blue stone.

"The Witch Princess blessed that." Jill realized suddenly. Her own necklace was the same, a necklace of teleportation. The only difference was that her stone was light pink, a sign of being blessed by the Harvest Goddess.

"Hm..." Jill could hear voices now. "I wonder where the curry smell came from..."

The door of the bar opened, and the bartenders came back in.

"Jill!" Muffy gasped.

The farmer smiled weakly. "Hi Muffy."

"Did Phantom Skye come?" Muffy asked quickly.

Jill caught Griffin's eye, who thought the answer was no. The farmer sighed and managed to whisper a soft "Yes." before she fainted dead away.

---

When Jill came too, the first thing she saw was the Witch Princess standing over her.

"You fainted." The blond witch explained. "The humans from the bar dragged you here 'cause everywhere else was locked up and that included your house."

"How long--" Jill was cut off.

"A week." The witch grinned. "I conjured a double so everyone thinks you're okay."

"Witch Princess?" Jill asked.

"Call me Majo-sama." The blond rolled her eyes. "I've known you since you were a baby."

"Majo-sama, did you bless Phantom Skye's teleportation necklace?" Jill asked.

"Yup! He can go into houses with that necklace." Majo-sama sneered. "Not like those wimpy teleportation necklaces blessed by the Goddess. Those can only go to the front door."

"...Did he get his Maiden Chick Beam from you too?" Jill sighed.

"Yeah." Majo-sama grinned proudly. "That is some of my best work."

Jill groaned. "You just gave him an all-access pass to my house."

"Oh." The blond witch fell silent.

"It's okay." Jill sighed.

"Yay!" Majo-sama cheered. "Jilly's not mad at me!"

---

_Summer 4_

"Dude." Kai began. "Your sister is hot."

Jill rolled her eyes at her friend. "Dude, I don't want to hear how hot my sister is from my best guy friend. That's sick."

A few minutes before, Kai had ran to the inn, shouting that Jill's sister was at the beach. Annoyed and disbelieving, Jill had followed him to the beach.

Claire Harvest was Jack and Jill's older sister by three seasons. She was a lovely woman, with her large sapphire eyes and mid-waist length blond hair that gave her a beauty that was delicate like the snow. She was born the in the Winter, and was twenty years old. Often, she wore a flannel shirt underneath blue overalls and her hair was tied in a loose ponytail.

And until recently, she had been traveling the world.

Now, Jill found herself staring at her elder sister, who was standing on the dock with her suitcases. Claire walked towards her sister solwly as Kai watched from beside Jill.

"Jillian," Claire smiled softly. "How are you doing these days?"

"Fine." Jill answered curtly.

Kai had never seen a colder family reunion.

At least, that's what he thought until Claire set her suitcases neatly at the edge of the dock, ran forward, and engulfed Jill in a warm embrace.

Jill began to choke out sobs, and she couldn't bear to look at her sister.

"Jilly, what's wrong?" Claire asked as she smoothed her sister's hair soothingly.

"It's Mom." Jill sniffled, feeling like a little kid again. "She's...dead."

"Mom's gone?" Clairfe couldn't believe it.

"You look just like her." Jill whispered.

And she was indeed correct.

Claire and their mother both had blond hair, blue eyes, and grace. Jill, Jack, and their father were awkward, clumsy, and brunet. Jill's purple eyes were the exact double of her grandmother's, while Jack was his father's double, and Claire was her mother's double. And now, as Claire stood on the dock hugging her crying sister, she looked more like her mother than ever.

"Why are you here?" Jill asked.

"Because," Claire began. "I'm moving to Mineral Town."

"WHAT?"

The cry came from both Jill, Kai, and someone else.

The three looked back to the dock, and a man stepped off board.

"Claire, why the hell are you moving to Mineral Town?" He asked, obviously pissed off. "We need you here."

"Jack?" Jill asked, stunned.

How many more surprises would this day bring?

**---**

Claire was glaring at Jack. "Do I need your permission to move, Jackson?"

Jack was taken aback by his eldest sister's cold tone. "Claire, it's just that..."

"What?" Claire snapped.

"Nothing." Jack mumbled, looking at his feet.

"Good." Claire's voice returned to a warm tone. "Jill, you have to give me pointers on farming, 'kay?"

Jill suppressed a laugh. "Claire, why are you really here?"

Claire turned red and whispered into Jill's ear. "My boyfriend said this was a nice place and I haven't seen him in awhile, so I thought that this would be kind of a surprise for him."

Jill snorted. "Who is he?"

Claire turned redder. "It's none of your business Jill!"

"Claire?"

Everyone turned. (Again.)

This time it was Grey. "Hey Claire, I haven't seen you awhile."

"Oh, hi Grey." Claire said casually. "I've been traveling."

"Oh." Grey nodded. "Cool, I guess."

Jill sweatdropped. Grey was...okay, but kinda quiet. "Hey Grey."

Grey gave Jill a brief nod, but it was clear his interest lay in Claire. "Why are you here?"

Well, as far as Jill could tell. His face was as hard as stone and his glare could've cut through a giant diamond the size of a boulder.

"I bought the farm in Mineral Town." Claire said coolly. "Tell Trent I'm staying with Jill for a few, 'k?"

Grey's blue eyes narrowed, and he practically hissed, "Fine."

"Fine!" Claire practically yelled back. "Having fun with your precious Mary?"

"Don't say anything about Mary!" Grey yelled. "Have fun with your stoic TRENT!!"

"And don't you say anything about Trent!" Claire glared at Grey.

Greybegan to trek across the sand, muttering to himself.

Claire huffed angrily, and glanced at Jill, Jack, and Kai. "What?"

"What's up with them?" Kai asked Jill. "I've never seen Grey so riled up."

"Yeah." Jill, shook her head.

"You think they still got the hots for each other?" Kai wondered aloud.

"Yeah." Jill answered, nodding. "They were shoving that hate/love cliche in our faces."

This recieved them both a whack on the back of the head, courtesy of Jack Harvest.

"That's for being weird. From me." Jack nodded in satisfaction, then stopped. "What kind of stupid last name is _Harvest_?"

"A very stupid one." Claire answered. "I'm sorry Jack and Jill, but that's why I took mom's name."

" '_Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of wat--_OW!!" Kai yelled as Jack tossed a potato at the back of his head.

Jack innocently turned around, whistling. "What?"

---

"You know what I just realized?" Jill asked Skye during one of their now-nightly midnight chats.

"Yes?" Skye asked, his fingers expertly braiding her brown hair.

"You're waaay girly." Jill smirked. "More than I am."

Skye gave a snort. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"And you know what?" Jill asked.

"What?" Skye asked, abandoning all attempts to braid her hair, and was now tossing grass at her.

Jill stuck her tongue out at him. "You're mean."

"..." Skye rolled his eyes. "It's eleven thirty. Time for _you_ to go to sleep."

"Aw, Skye!" Jill whined.

"I'll take you home." Skye, reached for her hand.

Jill took it, and blinked; They were next to her bed, Claire's long blond hair on the pillow next to Jill's own.

Skye's breath caught in his throat; He had seen her before.

"Jill, G'night."

"Night, Skye." Jill whispered.

And he was gone.

Jill and Skye had developed a cautious friendship.

That involved lots of teasing. Jill turned on her side, and drifted off to dreamland.

---

_"Cloud, this is my sister Claire." Jill's purple eyes glowed happily._

_"Hey." Cloud extended his hand to her._

_Claire looked him over once. "You don't seem like a backstabbing jerk that will hurt Jill. Okay, you can date her."_

_"W-WHAT?!" Jill nyelped. "I-it's nothing like that, Claire! W-we're just friends."_

_Claire rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh."_

_A month later, it was no big surprise to anyone that Cloud and Jill had started dating._

Skye leaned against the oak door of his home, his green eyes glistening with tears. He ran a hand through his silvery hair, and tears started running down his pale cheeks.

"I left you behind." He kept on whispering. "You died when I became me again. Don't come back, not now."

---

"Jill!" Kai shouted, as Jill walked onto the beach. "Over here!"

"Hey." jill grinned, as she handed Kai some gold.

He waved it off. "I just got the awesomest news EVER!"

"What, Claire dumped Trent, beat up Grey, and has decided to date you of all people?" Jill asked, rolling her eyes.

"No--wait, did she actually do that?" Kai asked.

"Wha--? NO! Just tell me what you were going to say!"

"My best bud, S.C. Nighte, is comiing to the valley!" Kai grinned. "S.C.'s an old family friend of Aunt Romana, so he's staying with them."

"S.C.?" Jill asked.

"Yeah, S.C." Kai nodded. "But he prefers to be known by his middle name: Cloudier."

"....Is he a brunet with green eyes?" Jill suddenly asked.

"Yeah, with blond streaks." Kai nodded. "Why, you know him?"

Jill's eyes filled with tears. "If you see him, tell him I **hate **him, and I _never _want to see him again!"

As she ran out of the beach, Kai shook his head. "Skye Cloudier Nighte, you are in big trouble."

**.**

**Um...It's pronounced CLOW-DEER, Cloudier. Yes, um...Kai knows Skye. In fact, they is bestest friends! Yey! And Claire has a different last name than Jill and Jack because after their parents' divorce, their mother changed to her maiden name, and Claire took her name.**

**Whoa! Claire's here, and Jack is too! The drama unfolds! What will the next chapter bring? Tune in next time to watch the next episode of **_**Golden Strings**_**, right here and right now on HM TV. Brought to you by Harvest Goddess Bars, the only nutritional bars that taste good! Eat them, or the Harvest King will banish you to another world. Oooh...spooky!**


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